1.5.4
The time spent in this most recent chapter describing Myriel and Baptistine's (who doesn't even get referred to as more than his sister, I think) relationship in the years leading up to his death very much got me thinking about Hugo's gendered portrayals of love in the story.
As seen in 1.5.4, he seems to portray women's love as- not passive, exactly, but it's always characterized as supportive and unconditional--which is not a bad thing in and of itself! Except when it's the only form their love takes, standing in contrast to that portrayed with male characters, whose love is described primarily in possessive terms, re: M. Myriel possessing the whole of his sister's heart. This pattern recurs with Valjean and Marius later on in their respective love for Cosette, though it faces some condemnation with each when it prevents the other from being with her. At least he stays consistent between familial, platonic, and romantic love?
Overall, the close relationships that we are meant to appreciate as a reader do follow the pattern--with the notable exceptions of Éponine and Grantaire, where the former takes on the more "masculine" possessive descriptions and actions in regards to Marius, which ultimately proves destructive; Grantaire's "love and veneration" for Enjolras is closer to a "feminine" description, though his actions, on the whole, cannot successfully fill the "supportive" role until the last. However, these relationships also don't entirely fall into the same categories as those that more closely fit the "possessive masculine"/"supportive feminine" loving relationships--Éponine's love is doomed to remain unrequited, and of course the male/female relationship of all the others does not apply to Grantaire and Enjolras.
Given how much similar characterization is still present in modern works, though, the issue is likely more societal than limited to Victor Hugo in particular--he's just the one that spent whole paragraphs talking about relying on women's "gentle weakness."
